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Gimlet Mops Up/plot
Chapter I: An Unofficial Rendezvous The war is just over but going by the summons Gimlet gets from General Sir Saxon Craig, formerly of M.I.5 and now the Chief Liaison between Scotland Yard and the War Office, not every enemy has surrendered. Gimlet and his team are called to a ramshackle hotel among ruined, bomb damaged buildings in Brummel Square. It's the General's secret operation headquarters for the mission he needs Gimlet for. A gang of "Werewolves", ex-Nazis who intend to continue waging war, is operating on British soil. Its leaders are believed to be wanted war criminals and the organisation is likely to be well-armed and well equipped. It has been sending death threats to British officers who had played a prominent part in the war. Some have been abducted, given a sham trial and then executed. Gimlet doesn't hesitate. He has also received a death threat. Defeating the Werewolves is more a commando operation than one of civil policing, the General tells Gimlet. He gives him and his team special green police passes which would assure cooperation from any policeman they meet. Chapter II: Hotel Europa Leaving Brummel Square by a secret exit, Gimlet and his men make their way to his room at the Hotel Europa in Piccadilly. Gimlet intends to set a trap. Gimlet would pretend to sleep which Copper, Trapper and Cub keep watch and deal with the Wolves when they turn up. The Wolves would strike soon, going by the pattern of their other death threats and this is evident when Gimlet discovers an attache case in a drawer which isn't his. Since the wolves intend to abduct their victim, Gimlet surmises that it probably contained a gas with a timer to release it at the right moment. He puts it in the chimney. Chapter III: Night Watch Towards midnight, Cub feels dizzy and realises he is being gassed. Their plans had gone wrong--the chimney was blocked! Cub opens a window for fresh air, and everyone recovers just in time to resume their stakeout. This happens soon enough as two men wearing wolves head masks come into the room and attempt to take Gimlet away. At Gimlet's command, the commandos spring the trap and swiftly knock out the two men. Gimlet calls the General to pick up two prisoners. Chapter IV: A Chase and a Crash There is a soft tap on the door and Gimlet opens it. A fellow hotel resident, (whom they later learn is named Professor Wenson) apologetically asks for some aspirin. Gimlet notices a slight hesitation, like Wenson was encountering something unexpected. The wolves must have accomplices! There is a taxi which has been waiting a long time in the street below. Gimlet sends Cub to check it out. Down on the street, Cub sees a red light flashing from a window. The taxi starts up and pulls away. Fortunately, at this time, two cars stop at the hotel entrance, so Cub steals one and gives chase. Approaching the Limehouse area, a large dark green car rams into Cub and forces his car against a lamp post. Gimlet, Copper and Trapper join Cub--his car, now wrecked, was in fact one which the General had brought along for Gimlet's use. They rejoin the General at the hotel and decide to check up on Wenson, but he has, conveniently, checked out. A large empty trunk was among his belongings. As for the two wolves they had caught--they had committed suicide with poison planted in a false tooth which could be unscrewed and released. Only two gas pistols had been found on the men. Chapter V: Council of War Gimlet and co. reconvene at Brummel Square to plan the next move. Gimlet has been calling some friends and has learnt that Freddie Ashton (his old ally from King of the Commandos) had also received a death threat. Freddie is nonetheless intent on leading a fox hunt that morning. So it seems that Gimlet and co. must "run with the fox and hunt with the hounds." Chapter VI: In at the Death Gimlet and Cub join the hunt while Trapper and Copper follow in a car. Freddie becomes separated from most of the others but Cub notices a man and a woman trying very hard to keep up with him. The man draws a gas pistol and fires it at Freddie, knocking him over. Cub rushes over and unseats the man and then scuffles with the woman--who also turns out to be a man. He attempts to shoot his gas pistol at Cub but Gimlet rides up and the two Werewolves retreat into the woods. A dark green car approaches, picks up the first Werewolf and rushes away. Copper and Trapper drive up. Gimlet orders them to pursue the car but then changes his mind. They have to get Freddie to safety first. Chapter VII: The General Takes a Hand Freddie is not badly hurt. Gimlet reports to the General who tells them that the police have managed to stop the green car at a road block. Rather than holding it, the police have secretly painted a white cirlce on the roof of the car, while the occupants were being questioned before being let go. Ginger in an Air Police aircraft is following it from the air and in radio contact. It is raining but Ginger manages to maintain sight of the car which heads north past Caterham and Purley and crosses Vauxhall Bridge. The car then stops somewhere in the east end. The weather worsens and visibility is almost zero but Ginger manages to pinpoint and photograph where the car stopped. There is still another Werewolf in the woods near where Freddie was injured. Gimlet and co. join the police cordon there. Tracker dogs are brought in but the Werewolves have one more trick up their sleeve. When it seemed the Werewolf has been cornered and would finally be caught, an amphibian aircraft lands on a lake nearby and picks him up and flies off. Chapter VIII: On the Trail Ginger's photograph shows the car stopped at a large building on a side street off the Whitechapel Road. Gimlet and co. make a ground reconnaissance and discover it's a church: the Tabernacle of St Barnaby in the East. Keeping watch over it discreetly, they notice a car stopping outside and a man holding what looks like a medical bag enters. Back at Brummel Square, the car is traced to one Dr Guthram Paul. The church might be a meeting place for the Werewolves. Possibly one of the Werewolves, injured in the attempt to abduct Freddie, is there taking refuge and receiving medical attention. Cub suggests attending the church: a poster outside did advertise a service the next day, a Sunday. He could go, with Copper for back up. Meanwhile Gimlet has to leave for Devon. There is a flower show he has to officiate at on Monday. Chapter IX: Cub Goes to Church As planned, Cub goes to the church the next day while Copper remains outside. There is a brief service. After it is over, the verger insists that Cub go and greet the preacher and he is brought into the vestry. The preacher is Wenson who demands to know who sent Cub. Cub insists that he came on his own. So Wenson says he will initiate him into the brotherhood and prepares to administer a truth drug. Things might have gone badly but now Copper intervenes--he bursts into the vestry and demands to know what's going to. Cub had promised to go somewhere with him and Copper insists that he goes right now. Not wanting a scene, Wenson lets Cub go. Outside, Cub and Copper watch the building discreetly. Dr Guthram Paul's car is parked nearby but he later leaves alone while Wenson and the others remain in the building. The place is confirmed to be a meeting place for the Werewolves. Cub and Copper report their findings to the General and then decide to head for Lorrington Hall. Chapter X: What Happened at Lorrington Cub and Copper arrive at the crowded Lorrington village hall in time to watch Gimlet get up to make his speech. He opens his mouth but no words come out. He stammers a little, and then the lights go out! Cub and Copper batter their way to the front of the hall and link up with Trapper. They push through to the stage exit but see a car pulling away. Gimlet has gone! The three of them decide to head back to Brummel Square immediately. Chapter XI: Back to Town The General plans an immediate raid on the church at Whitechapel. Cub suggests that he, Copper and Trapper try to get into the building stealthily first to avoid alarming the wolves. The police can stand by outside and intervene if there's a sign of a fight going on inside. The three break into the church through a pantry and here some talking inside a room. It's Dr Guthram Paul treating an injured wolf. There is a brief exchange of fire and the doctor is hit. The injured wolf tries to escape through a side door but Cub drags him back and goes through it himself. The door leads to an underground cellar which has been done up to resemble a courtroom. On the wall, a sliding door is just closing. They break it open and go through into a tunnel. It's one of the old London sewers. Ahead of them they can see a group of people moving. Then there is a scuffle, a loud splash, and the sound of an engine as a boat moves off to disappear into the fog. They see Gimlet in the water and pull him out. Chapter XII: A Wolf Comes Back Back at Brummel Square, Gimlet tells the others that he had been drugged by a drawing pin on his chair at Lorrington. When he came to, he was in the fake court room under the church where a mock trial was enacted. The proceedings were interuppted by noise overhead and a wolf announcing that the police had arrived. Gimlet was then taken into the tunnel but he struggled. Wenson struck at him and he ducked but not low enough and he entered up being knocked into the water. They go back to the church where the police had uncovered vast quantities of wolf equipment and weapons. Outside, Cub meets the newsagent who tells him he saw one of the regular congregation loitering around and then going to the back of the building. Sensing trouble, Cub goes to the back and enters the vestry. An unknown man is there, with his hand on a1 plunger in the wall. Cub shoots the man but it is too late--the plunger has been pushed home. Cub runs into the church and yells to everyone to clear out. They are only just in time as the building goes up in a massive explosion. Chapter XIII: Dead Man's Boots But all is not lost. The General had in his hands as he ran out a pair of flying boots. The mud is analysed by Scotland Yard labs and found to come from the eastern part of Norfolk. The General calls on Biggles and his Special Air Police to do a reconnaissance of the area, looking for a Werewolf base of some kind. A few hours later, Biggles arrives with some air photos. He briefs all present about Grimston Broad, a location he designates as Objective A, which he regards as a likely site for what they are looking for. It is a remote body of water large enough for a flying boat to operate on and five miles from the nearest village. There is a windmill and a nearby boathouse. The buildings should have been unused but the grass showed signs of having been disturbed that morning. There is also a thin film of oil on the water near the boathouse. Gimlet agrees this is a promising location and he takes his team to check it out. Chapter XIV: "Like Old Times" Gimlet and co., heavily armed for a possible firefight, approach the windmill stealthily. It looks deserted but then they see a pair of men walking from the windmill to the boathouse, talking in German. There is the sound of an aircraft gliding in. The men switch on lights around the water to mark a landing area what a flying boat. Chapter XV: Objective A Gimlet decides to move fast. Copper and Trapper are stationed to cut off any escape while he and Cub rush into the boathouse and knock the two men out. They then pretend to be the two men and help pull the flying boat into its mooring inside the boathouse. Four passengers alight from the aircraft, including a man in a fur coat carrying a portfolio. Gimlet holds them up and at first they comply but there is the sound of a scuffle outside and the four then try draw weapons and run. There is a brief firefight. The four passengers are all shot but the gunfire has also set fire to the petrol and oil in the boathouse and the flames are soon burning out of control. Gimlet and co. evacuate hastily. They have the portfolio but are unable to get back in to pull the injured Werewolves out because of the flames. Gimlet and co. now advance to the windmill, knowing that whoever is in there must have been alerted. At this juncture, a policeman turns up but Gimlet shows his green pass and he agrees to help, offering to handle a rifle. With his force now increased to five, they move to surround the windmill. Chapter XVI: Operation Complete Gimlet calls to the Werewolves in the windmill to give themselves up. One man tries to run out but is shot by his colleagues. The remaining wolves continue to resist, and in the end Gimlet tosses a few grenades into the building. The windmill is set on fire and there are no survivors. Wenson is among the dead and he turns out to be Hugo Stresser, wanted for war crimes. The man in the fur coat is another war criminal, Karl von Runtz, believed to be the head of the Werewolf organisation. His portfolio contained valuable information which helped the governments of several countries to put an end to Werewolf activities. Category:Plot summaries